DETROIT – The one year anniversary of the siege on the U.S. Capitol is in two days. Multiple people from Michigan are facing charges in connection with the attack.
Some have already been sentenced while other cases are still making their way through the court system. So far 14 Michigan men were captured and put behind bars for their involvement.
- Logan Barnhart from Lansing is accused of using a baton, flag pole and crutch to beat officers.
- Tim Boughner from Romeo was seen on police body camera footage using chemical spray and a bike rack to assault officers.
- Justin Jersey of Flint was seen on video using a police baton to beat officers.
- Michael Joseph from Wixom was shown on video beating Capitol police with a hockey stick.
All the other Michigan men accused have been charged with a version of unlawful entry or disorderly conduct. Trevor Brown of Novi was seen in a video and admitted to directing shoving that would crush a Capitol officer. Steven Thurlow from St. Clair Shores took a selfie while on a desk inside the Capitol.
Five people have also taken plea deals. Jeremiah Caplinger from Taylor and Jeremy Sorvisto from Hancock pleaded guilty to parading in the Capitol building and face six months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Robert Schornak from Roseville and Daniel Herendeen from Chesterfield plotted with one another before the 6th pleaded guilty to entering a restricted building and face a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
So far just a single of Michigan’s rioters has been sentenced. Karl Dresch of Calumet was the first to be arrested. He took a plea deal to parading in the Capitol and was sentenced to time served.
There are hundreds of cases, almost all taking place in court in Washington DC, which means hearings and trial dates have been trickling out. Many of the men will have their sentencing or their next hearings this month. One of the interesting things to note is those who have been sentenced have had to pay an additional $500 on top of their sentences. That money will be used to pay for the $1.4 million in damages done to the Capitol building.
“(We) felt firsthand the venom of that mob”: Congressman Dan Kildee recalls Capitol siege
Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and experienced the day firsthand.
“I was the number one of a small number of members that were trapped in the gallery along with some news media and left behind when the Capitol was evacuated. So we were in significantly greater danger and saw firsthand, felt firsthand the venom of that mob,” Kildee said.
Kildee was in the gallery of the House chambers as insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol. The attack left him shaken.
“In the days and weeks immediately following the event it was really difficult to watch because those of us who were trapped, we didn’t see the magnitude of the attack until afterward,” Kildee said.
Kildee would eventually seek help for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and in the months that followed has become an outspoken advocate for members of Congress, staff and Capitol police who struggled the way he did.
Kildee is not just concerned about the personal trauma, but national trauma too. He praised the work of the Bipartisan investigation into the attack and decried the vast number of his Republican colleagues who are trying to downplay the attempt to undermine democracy.
“I think there are two aspects that we need to pursue truth and reconciliation. But you can’t have reconciliation without bearing the truth without putting it on full display,” Kildee said.
Kildee will also be one of the few members to speak during the official remembrance of the attack this Thursday on the House floor.